Bulletin Board — Progress 64 West scholarship winners

Progress 64 West scholarship winners

Three area students were recognized, on Nov. 21 at the Progress 64 West 25th Anniversary Luncheon, for their business acumen. Honored were Emma Nasi from Timberland High School in the Wentzville School District, Sam Ploeger from Marquette and Nikolas Ioakimides from Parkway South

Nasi received a $5,000 scholarship for her business idea, Midwest Independent Nurse Specialists, LLC.

Ploeger received a $2,500 scholarship recognizing his business plan for Loads to Go, and Ioakimides received $2,500 for his business idea, SocialAcademy.

Ioakimides said the idea for Social Academy came to him while studying with some friends.

“The whole idea behind it is a social app for students to share ideas about projects and study for tests,” Ioakimides said. “We know that social networking is going to be the future, so why not use it for school?”

Ioakimides said students could pose a question as their SocialAcademy status and get help from other students and potentially even educators.

“We’d also like to put electronic textbooks on the site, because we think paper textbooks are kind of annoying,” Ioakimides said.

Ploeger also built his business plan around an annoying topic for students – doing laundry.

“I have two brothers who are in college already and they always complain about doing their laundry. They try to come home as often as possible so that Mom can do their laundry because they like the way Mom does it and folds it,” Ploeger said.

His business concept, Loads to Go, would solve that problem by bringing professional laundry services to campus on wheels.

The portable laundry would hire student workers and provide a drop-off service with a pay plan similar to a meal plan so that cash on hand would never be a problem.

“I’m going into marketing and sales so I thought developing a business plan and applying for this scholarship would be a good thing to do,” Ploeger said.

The scholarship program was sponsored by American Direct Marketing Resources, LLC; Bick Group; DosterUllom, LLC; and Stinson, Morrison & Hecker LLP.

 

Parkway Partners

The Parkway School District Board of Education in November formally recognized the inaugural class of Parkway Partners. The group includes important members of the community who have taken a leadership role in partnering with Parkway.

The mission statement of the new “Parkway Partners” states, “In the coming months and years ahead, Parkway hopes to cultivate and grow the existing partnerships it has with the inaugural class and to expand its partnerships with other businesses and community groups.”

Partnerships can encompass a wide variety of activities that support student learning, such as mentoring or tutoring students, providing real-world workplace experiences and internships, donating funds or supplies to support district events or activities, helping develop curriculum and providing field trips or job shadowing opportunities.

The inaugural class of “Parkway Partners” includes: BJC Health System, the city of Chesterfield, Junior Achievement of Greater St. Louis, Maryville University’s School of Education, Parkway Middle School Mentors, Nationwide Insurance Company, OASIS organization, Parkway Advisory Council for Children with Disabilities, Parkway Alumni Association, Parkway’s PTO Leadership Council, Stages St. Louis and West County YMCA.

 

Emerson Excellence in Teaching

Ninety-three local educators in November were honored with Tiffany crystal apples at the 2012 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Awards. Each school’s administration selected the recipients to celebrate their achievements and dedication to the teaching profession.

“Quality teachers are instrumental in helping students achieve the highest level of success,” said Patrick J. Sly, Emerson executive vice president. “And their achievements ultimately enable our communities to grow and companies to succeed and increase jobs and provide more progressive employment opportunities in the future.”

Award recipients also are given an opportunity to apply for a Gold Star Grant from Emerson, which will be presented in spring 2013. Honorees from this year and the past five years are eligible to apply for the competitive grants, which are designed to fund educational projects.

Emerson and the Emerson Charitable Trust gave $10.6 million to more than 700 educational organizations and institutions globally for the year ending in September.

“We are proud to celebrate the area’s most dedicated educators, and thank them for their commitment to education and to our children,” Sly said.

Educators in the West Newsmagazine readership area include: Allison Love, Sorrento Springs Elementary; Janice Wenger, Center for Creative Learning; Scott Szevery, Marquette High; Jeffrey Sass, Rockwood South Middle; and Johannes Wich-Schwarz, Maryville University.

 

The power of music

Members of the MICDS Beasley third- and fourth-grade chorus and fifth-grade musicians participating in the Beasley Drum Ensemble in November performed at the opening evening ceremony of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association National Conference at the Renaissance Hotel.

More than 1,000 music teachers from across the U.S. enjoyed the program, “A Playground of Creativity.” Beasley was the only school in the Midwest to be honored by the invitation from the national chairs of the conference to perform.

A highlight of the evening for the students was the opportunity to perform with David Halen, concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, who accompanied the young voices on violin. The students performed under the direction of Barb Spieler, Lower School music teacher, and Janet McMillion, head of Lower School.

Spieler said MICDS received a tremendous amount of positive feedback from the audience members, both on the evening of the performance and later in the conference.

“I think this was an experience the students will remember for the rest of their lives,” she said.

McMillion said the students were honored to perform, and that the national music organization was honored by their performance.

“It is rare when we have an opportunity to recognize the impact of a strong artistic curriculum on the lives of young students,” she said. “But this performance of our young musicians on a national stage was such an event. Artistry, skill, confidence and complexity were the themes of the evening, and our students shone in each and every way. All those who were present had an experience of a lifetime.”

 

Distinguished Alumni

Rossman in November presented seven former students with Distinguished Alumni wards. The Rossman School Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes men and women, living or deceased, who, by outstanding achievement, exemplify the values taught by Rossman School throughout its 95 years – leadership, citizenship, creativity, humanity and love of learning. The award, presented every five years, is the highest honor bestowed to Rossman alumni.

This year, Rossman honored J. Curtis Engler and Robin Ewing Engler (’60), Richard W. Horner (’26), Landon Y. Jones (’55), Jay P. Marshall (’58), Derek K. Rapp (’74) and Helen B. Rapp (’04).